Lexie Brown came off the bench to score 17 points, drilling five of six attempts from beyond the arc, as the Seattle Storm rallied for an 89-82 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday in Uncasville, Conn., securing their first win of the season.
Brown, a former first-round draft pick of the Sun in 2018, poured in 14 of her points after halftime to help Seattle (1-1) erase a five-point deficit at the break.
Flau’jae Johnson added 16 points and six rebounds, while Jade Melbourne contributed 15 points and six assists for the Storm, who started a three-game road trip with a strong performance. Natisha Hiedeman chipped in 11 points.
Aneesha Morrow recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds off the bench to lead Connecticut (0-2), which lost its home opener in what will be the franchise’s farewell season in the state.
Brittany Griner and Diamond Miller finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively, each grabbing five rebounds. Kennedy Burke added 12 points and six rebounds.
The Sun led 49-44 at halftime, but Brown caught fire in the third quarter, hitting four straight 3-pointers to spark Seattle’s comeback. She tied the game at 54-54 with 4:57 left in the period, then drilled another triple 20 seconds later to put the Storm ahead 57-54. Her final 3-pointer extended the lead to 63-54 with 3:20 remaining.
Hailey Van Lith scored the Sun’s final seven points of the quarter, cutting the deficit to 63-61, but Connecticut never regained the lead.
The teams were tied at 68-68 early in the fourth quarter before Melbourne knocked down a 3-pointer at the 7:55 mark.
Griner’s two free throws with 5:59 left brought the Sun within 76-74, and Burke’s long-range shot trimmed Seattle’s lead to 80-79 with 3:38 to go. But the Storm converted seven of 10 free-throw attempts in the final 3:12 to seal the victory.
Seattle led 29-24 after the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 31-24 on a basket by Grace VanSlooten with 9:06 left in the half. The Storm held a 38-30 lead with under seven minutes remaining before the Sun went on a 17-4 run to seize control. Burke highlighted the surge with a 3-pointer that gave Connecticut a 43-42 lead with 2:33 left.
Griner followed with back-to-back layups, extending the Sun’s lead to 47-42 with 1:26 to go in the half. Johnson ended the run with two free throws, cutting the deficit to 47-44 with 44 seconds left. Van Lith’s pullup jumper with three seconds remaining gave Connecticut a five-point halftime cushion.
